Fans were treated to some thrilling racing last weekend as classic Formula One cars took to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit in the Masters Racing Legends races.

It was all part of the Masters Historic Festival with two races, featuring the classic sights and sounds of Grand Prix competition took place on a sunny afternoon at the venue which celebrates its centenary this year. With Werner D’Ansembourg and Tom Bradshaw took the victories.

In race one, Belgium’s D’Ansembourg led from the off at the wheel of his Willliams FW07C. In qualifying, he’d edged out the similar machined of Yutaka Toriba by just a tenth of a second, but the Japanese driver’s challenge was ended when he exited proceedings early on.

This left Bradshaw is his nearest competitor and the leading duo lapped in close proximity to one another throughout the contest. The bright orange and white McLaren in Bradshaw’s hands threatened to size the leader up a number of times, but was ultimately forced to settle for second.

D’Ansembourg ultimately crossed the line just under a second clear of Bradshaw in that opener. A little further behind them on the road was Warren Briggs in his slightly older McLaren M29C. Valerio Leone’s Arrows and Mark Hazell’s Williams rounded out the top-five.

For race two, the top-five places on the grid were flipped, with Hazell and Leone sharing the front row. This time though it was Bradshaw’s time to shine, moving through the field on the first lap to assume a lead he’d manage impressively well.

His race one rival D’Ansembourg worked his way up the order too, assuming second place with a decent chunk of the distance still to run. He was able to reduce the gap to under five seconds, but the Williams pilot was forced to settle for a runner-up spot the second time around.

Briggs once again completed the podium, but Toriba and Jamie Constable in fourth and fifth offered an indication that they could have been more of a factor in the earlier race were it not for hitting trouble. Hazell slipped to sixth after his front row start, while Leone was forced to retire midway through.

Images courtesy of Brands Hatch